Should I care? My doc took some blood for my physical last week and today he called and said everything was good but my Potassium was high. Should I care? Are there any real symptoms? I do eat 3 bananas on most days. I guess that could cause it but again, should I care?

I would think that your kidneys should be able to regulate potassium levels to a normal level regardless of your intake (although consuming the proper amount does make this easier for your kidneys to do). However, there are some compensatory mechanisms that can throw this off a little (for example, potassium reuptake is increased to pump out more sodium). I suppose you could cut back a little on potassium to potentially "fix" this, but its a complicated system so its hard to predict exactly what will happen.

Why not ask your doc what he/she thinks about it and if you should try any dietary changes and then have more tests done? Sounds like it was probably a mild elevation that they will simply monitor in the future, but never hurts to ask, if you're worried

Why not ask your doc what he/she thinks about it and if you should try any dietary changes and then have more tests done? Sounds like it was probably a mild elevation that they will simply monitor in the future, but never hurts to ask, if you're worried

We scheduled a follow up blood test in a week. I am not so much worried as I am interested. I have been really achy lately and I wonder if there is any possible tie in.

Metabolic shock can result from high potassium. The actual levels would need to be measured to determine how dangerous it is. And there's a difference between plasma vs. serum potassium levels. Handling of the blood after drawing it also affects potassium levels. Too low temperature and abusing it can lead to cell death and leakage of cellular potassium. So... there's too many variables to consider, your follow up test should be more helpful.

* High blood potassium levels may be caused by damage or injury to the kidneys. This prevents the kidneys from removing potassium from the blood normally.
* High blood potassium levels can also be caused by conditions that move potassium from the body's cells into the blood. These conditions include severe burns, crushing injuries, heart attack, and diabetic ketoacidosis.
* Taking too many potassium supplements can also cause high levels of potassium in the blood.
* Too much acid (pH) in the blood makes potassium levels higher by causing the potassium in the body's cells to "leak" out of cells and into the blood.
* Some medicines, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, can cause high potassium levels.

Potassium levels in a blood test are very easily raised by how the blood was drawn and how it was handled. This is why almost all elevated levels, in the absence of any known condition like chronic kidney disease, end up being false positives. In an otherwise normal person, doctors don't panic when they see a high results. They just recheck after an appropriate time. My layman's guess is that if it was dangerously high, your doctor would have called an ambulance to take you to the nearest ER. Since he didn't, I wouldn't be too concerned about if it was me. But of course, you should ask your doctor about whether you need to cut back on bananas. The internet is no substitute for a doctor.

I might be forgetting about something here, but I would think that actually dehydration has the opposite effect (ie- decreases potassium). In the RAA system (for regulating BP and fluid balance) when blood pressure is low (ie- dehydration), kidneys secrete renin which stimulates the production of angiotensin which causes vasoconstriction to increase BP. Angiotensin also stimulates aldosterone secretion. Aldosterone causes the kideys to retain sodium and water. However, since sodium is antiported with potassium, if you want to maintain sodium then you have to sacrifice potassium out. So, by this pathway (RAA), dehydration should result in hypokalemia (low potassium), since its not as simple as dehydration > more concentrated potassium.

Feel free to point out if I've got something wrong here (yeah, I'm such a physiology geek, buts its cool stuff )

I might be forgetting about something here, but I would think that actually dehydration has the opposite effect (ie- decreases potassium). In the RAA system (for regulating BP and fluid balance) when blood pressure is low (ie- dehydration), kidneys secrete renin which stimulates the production of angiotensin which causes vasoconstriction to increase BP. Angiotensin also stimulates aldosterone secretion. Aldosterone causes the kideys to retain sodium and water. However, since sodium is antiported with potassium, if you want to maintain sodium then you have to sacrifice potassium out. So, by this pathway (RAA), dehydration should result in hypokalemia (low potassium), since its not as simple as dehydration > more concentrated potassium.

Feel free to point out if I've got something wrong here (yeah, I'm such a physiology geek, buts its cool stuff )

but if one is taking an ACE inhibitor, that whole scenario can be tossed right out the door.
Also, high potassium can be a sign of low sodium or hyponatremia. Dehydration can result from hyponatremia as there is less sodium to require the water volume and the kidneys will flush the extra water.